Scripture Scouts

I'm grateful for Scripture Scouts! I learned a lot about the basic scripture stories from these wonderful cassette tapes, and I'm pretty sure I owe a lot of my knowledge about the Book of Mormon in particular to those gems. They have catchy little songs that are great to sing, and I loved imagining that I was right there in the tree house with Skyler, Sue, Baby, and Boo. One of my earliest memories involving Scripture Scouts (so early, in fact, that it might be wrong) is when I was really little and spent the night in Lisa's room. I vaguely recall listening to one of the S.S. tapes where it was raining, and we drifted off to sleep with Lisa's Walkman (remember those?!) playing the scriptural tale. Another memory I have is where Rebecca and I (and maybe Spencer too) turned up "Hypocrite Rock" and got out the broom and yardsticks so we could imitate the guitar playing. We stood on the couch in the Family Room and jammed out!

Last night my roommate and I happened to be talking about random things, and somehow Scripture Scouts came up. Guess what?!! She knows 'em, too!! I literally could not stop smiling and laughing in joy at the fact that we can now sing songs from Scripture Scouts together! They not only provided so much entertainment for me when I was younger, but they are still entertaining to me now. In fact, a few years ago we listened to Scripture Scouts on our long drive to Iowa, and we all loved it! Plus, look what I just discovered! My favorite part is the radio.

Turning Tables

Today I'm grateful for the ironies of life. Remember the "hypothetical" almost-burn-down-my-apartment situation? Well, one of my roommates in particular gave me a pretty hard time about it. And I don't mean a joking hard time; I think she was literally mad at me for one little flame coming out of the oven.

Really? We have flames in the house almost all the time with our various candles being lit. Honestly. Give me a break.

Anyway, on Monday I came home and smelled the most horrible thing I have ever smelled. After almost throwing up, I pleasantly asked said roommate what it was. She told me she had been on the phone and got so distracted that she accidentally put her macaroni and cheese mix in the microwave without any water. She must have gone upstairs or something, because I think she let the noodles burn for the full length of the allotted time! Anyway, I asked when it had happened and it turns out it had been about an hour earlier. Even with that length of time there was still smoke floating around the kitchen making everything around wreak! Because it was so cold outside we couldn't even open the windows and doors for long periods of time.

That night all of us cleaned our apartment like crazy people (another long story, but we just found out that day that we had cleaning checks the next day). The apartment looked great when we were done, yet even the strong cleaning products couldn't mask the nasty smell!

The next day we had our cleaning check, and apparently our apartment won the cleanest apartment award. Waiting on our table was a thank you note and a candle as a gift. We were all very glad to receive the candle, as we usually have one burning and our candles had been running low as of late. However, even having constantly burning candles didn't mask the nasty smell!

Now, two days later (count the hours here, people), every time we use the microwave (or even open the door to the microwave) our kitchen smells of burnt noodles again. It even still lingers for about 15 minutes after we use the microwave! When I had my little "situation," smoke smell (but no nasty smell from burnt food) was around for a maximum of 30 minutes.

Though I've been sorely tempted to give her an extremely hard time about it all, something about my non-confrontational nature has held me back. Yes, we still occasionally tease her, but I don't want to make her feel worse about it than I'm sure she already feels.

Yet, secretly, every time I use the microwave and am overtaken by the nasty smell, something inside me has to laugh at how the tables have turned.

My Ability to Speak and Spell

This post might not be very nice, so you shouldn't count it as a true "gratitude" post. Plus, you also shouldn't judge me for the times that I misspell words, because I know it happens.


No, I'm not a toy (refer to the picture). Yes, I am from Texas. Yes, I do currently live in Utah. But, thank goodness I don't have some crazy hick accent or a crazy Utah accent. Unlike these people in Utah, I can differentiate between the sound of the words "feel" and "fill." I don't have any trouble pronouncing "the real deal" correctly. I can say my sister's last name (Steele) properly. Apparently some of the people who have difficulties pronouncing these words correctly also have trouble spelling them correctly. (I would have a hard time spelling them correctly if I said them incorrectly, too.) An announcement on Blackboard (a website used for many of my classes) was posted by my TA the other day and reads:

You don't need to turn in anything, they feel out a sheet that we pick up to give you credit.

Ignoring the fact that this sentence should really be two sentences or one sentence with a semicolon, did you notice the error in spelling? The Writing Center helpers (the "they" in the announcement) actually filled out a paper for me. They did not, however, feel out a paper for me.

This is so judgmental of me because I don't know where she is from, but...

Goodness, Utahns.

Learning Things the Hard Way

I am grateful for this unexpected delight, and was reminded of that fact today. WHY?

Well, imagine this:

You move into a place and notice that the smoke alarm on the main floor has no batteries. After consulting your management "handbook" and realizing that batteries must be provided by the tenants, you make a mental note to either buy the batteries yourself or have your roommates buy some. The next time you and your roommates are together you announce that you are going to buy 9-volt batteries unless one of them has some. Upon the reassurance that one girl has some at home and will grab them the next time she makes the hour trek north, you decide to mark the "get batteries" note off of your mental To Do List.

Fast forward a couple of months. Now all that's left in your brain dealing with smoke detectors is a vague impression on the very back part of it that reads: "Your roommate didn't ever grab the batteries. You should just buy some the next time you're at the store." However, you ignore it.

One day, you decide you really want to eat a hamburger for dinner, but you don't want to clean the George Foreman. Instead, you decide you will just cook it in the oven. Having seen your mother do this many times, you are sure that somehow the meat will end up cooked. However, you have no idea if the oven should be on Broil or just on a regular temperature like 350. After deciding upon the regular temperature and realizing that the burger is taking far too long for your hungry stomach to wait for, you switch the oven over to Broil. Then, you figure you'll go upstairs and fold some laundry while you wait for the meat to cook to perfection. Next thing you know your roommate is calling out that your burger is sizzling like mad and that you should come downstairs and take it out of the oven. The first thing you see when you head down the stairs is a bunch of smoke. Yikes! Your roommate opens the oven door, and while you pull out the pan she turns off the oven. You notice a quick flame shoot out of the oven broilers as she does so.

"Great," you're thinking. I ruined my meal and now our freshly-cleaned apartment is going to wreak like burnt food. Then, you hear the ominous sound of an alarm. "How could this be," you wonder. "I thought the smoke alarm didn't have batteries!" Soon you find the source of the sound upstairs. But, gosh darn it, you can't turn off the alarm!! After what seems like an eternity, your eardrums quit screaming at you in pain as the alarm switches off.

After opening all the doors and windows available and apologizing profusely to your roommates, you finally get to grab your food and eat. But, when you grab a spatula and take the offending patty off the tray, you notice that the bottom is still not completely cooked!

After all that hassle, you end up zapping your meal in the microwave.

Kay, you got that? You have a great imagination. What can we learn from this hypothetical story? Somewhere in the house, there is at least one smoke detector that has working batteries. If ever something sets your house on fire while you're asleep, you'll be the first to hear it since the alarm is located conveniently right next to your bedroom door! Boy am I grateful to have been able to dream up this situation and see the good side of a potentially night-ruining fiasco!

Laughter

Really Great Friends

Once upon a time, I met this great girl who became one of my best friends. Growing up, we were always in the same stake, but not in the same ward or at the same schools, so I really had no idea who she was (except that I'd heard the last name "Bushman" in the stake before). Then one day, I was at Gifted Education Midland school (I went to this school two days a week) and I met Dionna Bushman in my class. We found out that we were both members of the church. After going home and talking to our respective parents, we found out that we were related! We felt so cool being able to tell our friends in the class that we were 3rd cousins once removed, but nobody really believed us. After all, what average fourth grader knows crazy things like the distant relationship you have to your classmate? After that fourth grade year we started going to GEM on different days of the week, so I didn't see her at school any more.

Then in ninth grade when I started attending Seminary in the mornings, I met with the other two wards in Midland, so Dionna and I were again brought into each others' lives. I remember thinking that she was quite the person, and that she was a lot of fun. However, since it had been such a long time since fourth grade and since we went to different high schools, I didn't interact much with her besides the occasional chat in Seminary.

Part way through my sophomore year, the wards were realligned and Dionna's family came into the Midland 3rd Ward with us. Dionna's dad was our new bishop, and poor Dionna was one of the very few Young Women to move over to the new ward (old ward + new boundaries = a brand new ward, after all). I can't imagine being in her situation! After 16 years of being in one ward and having friends there, being isolated and moving to a new ward must have been really tough. Again, I noticed her great personality and willingness to be enthusiastic at YW events despite these "unfair disadvantages."

Soon, the three of us girls (Randee, Audrey, and I) my age who had already been in the ward together 'adopted' Dionna as our own. And boy, let me tell you what a great friend Dionna became! She moved into the ward right before my dad passed away, and it was wonderful having a kind friend like her to lean on. In Seminary we usually sat next to each other. I admit, sometimes we talked a little too much in class, but it was really fun having a spiritual person like her next to me.

Now, we're both at BYU, we both have our parents on missions, we both have a sister on a mission, we are both the youngest of 8 kids, and we both have All Sports Passes together! We got all painted up in celebration of Homecoming a few weeks ago.

Before the game when we were still excited.

Kind of scary, I know.

By this point we were losing terribly, it was getting chilly, and a lot of fans had already left. However, we were happy because we didn't have annoying "fans" behind us anymore!!

I am so thankful for this girl! What a blessing to have her in my life now and forever!

Prayer

Today I will express my gratitude for prayer. Recently I've been having a really hard time in my Physics class. I got behind on a few things and ended up feeling really confused about most of the class. This being a frustrating situation for me, my wonderful family helped me out by fasting and praying for me (among other things that we fasted for as a family).

Since that fast, I have still felt lost and confused multiple times while doing my homework. I also took a test for that class and made one of the worst grades I've ever made on a test here at BYU. However, I've been able to basically finish my homework before the midnight deadline on the day that it's due. I've felt a little less confused in lecture, and I've gotten back to enjoying physics a bit.

Prayer has also helped me in many other ways at many other times in my life, but this was one experience that I have had recently.

This is my sister Emily. Here, she is showing a great example of praying.

And yes, I did take a picture in the middle of a prayer. Call me a sinner.

But, in my defense, the prayer was going on in the Marriott and we still hadn't even gone inside. Emily is so righteous she prays with a broadcasted prayer while standing in front of water fountain! :)

Thursdays

Today, it being a Thursday and in the month of November, I express my gratitude for Thursdays. I absolutely love my Thursday schedule. I start off the day with a 9:00 class, which is not too early or too late. Then right after it I have a piano lesson at 10:30. It's not my favorite class in the world, but it is fun to be encouraged to play the piano as often as I do. Then I have a HUGE break! I get to do whatever I need to from 11 to 5! It really is nice having a day to get caught up on things, or take a break from doing things, or whatever.

Today I went to a Q&A session about the Swine Flu (H1N1) and got free pizza out of it. I also came here -- the Humanities MacLab. I'm learning that I'm not a huge fan of Mac computers, but I am a huge fan of Mac keyboards. I thought that keyboards on MacBooks were just nice because they are in laptop form, but here I found out that even keyboards for Mac Desktops have the same style of keys. The keys are "thinner" than the keys on my computer keyboard at home, so they don't make so much of a clicking noise as I type away. They're kind of fun to push too, but maybe that's because it's novel to me.



See the difference in the key "height" on the two different pictures?







I'm also grateful for Lisa's Christmas music playlist which I'm currently listening to. Hopefully my day will keep going well; I have a Family History test to take later. In fact, I will use my wonderful Thursday break to go study for it!

I spy...

Guess what I saw today?!! I saw the Grounds Crew putting up Christmas lights in the trees in front of the JFSB! I am super excited that it's getting to be the holiday season. I love that I can legitimately listen to Christmas music without being laughed at by everyone. Now the only people who laugh are just the few Scrooges who think it's unnecessary to begin the Christmas cheer by listening to wonderful music. (Granted, I haven't really begun listening to Christmas music, but I have been playing Christmas music for about a month now because of it being assigned to me in my piano lessons.) Plus also, this time of year is made even greater by the fact that it's still warm and hasn't begun snowing yet. I heard that tomorrow it's supposed to get up to 70 degrees here! Yippee!!